


Posession

by peranima



Category: Dead by Daylight (Video Game)
Genre: Death, F/M, Sexual Content, Stalking, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:21:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25125358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peranima/pseuds/peranima
Summary: Not the best, but still hope you enjoy.
Relationships: Danny "Jed Olsen" Johnson | The Ghost Face/Original Female Character(s), Danny "Jed Olsen" Johnson | The Ghost Face/Reader, Frank Morrison/Original Character(s), Frank Morrison/Reader
Comments: 7
Kudos: 41





	Posession

He had been watching her since she moved into the tiny apartment two months ago. No, he wasn’t her neighbor, he didn’t even live in the neighborhood, he had spotted her walking down the street going to the grocery store. She had caught his eye immediately and that urge erupted inside him. Now, he was carefully staking out her place, learning her routine, learning where she worked, what she loved to eat and drink, what stores she frequented, when she left and came home from work right down to when she woke up and went to sleep and when she showered. That part hadn’t been easy. She lived on the second floor of her apartment building and her bathroom didn’t have windows. Instead, he had to wait to see her emerge from the bathroom and see her soaking wet hair to know what she had just been doing. After he had broken in there and walked through her apartment to learn the layout, he knew where her bedroom, kitchen and bathroom were, so once he saw her go in there, he knew he’d see her soon wet from the shower. He still hoped that once day she’d walk out of there without clothes on, without her towel draped around her. She didn’t seem to be the type to actually walk through her home without clothes on though, even when she went to bed she didn’t wear anything skimpy. Sure, it was frustrating, he wanted to see more, but at the same time, the mystery of what laid beneath her clothes gave him a sick kind of thrill that he actually found he loved. It made the anticipation of what he planned to do to her even more exciting. He couldn’t wait until the right moment came, once it did, he was going to take immense pleasure from it. 

And that urge was quickly building, he was going to make his move soon. Very soon. He just had to figure out the best way to do it. While she never had any visitors, no friends or family that he had seen, she had never even gone out with friends before, she was still very guarded. She always had her doors locked, when she wasn’t home, her windows were closed up even though there was no way anyone could get up there easily, she’d check to make sure her door was locked what seemed like a million times before she went to bed and he even noticed that she carried mace around with her and seemed to be on her toes while walking around. The times he managed to get inside he had to pick the lock, which was dangerous to do considering he could have been easily caught. Meaning if he broke in while she was in there, there was no doubt she’d hear and know what was happening. Then again, she did fall asleep with her television on, so maybe she wouldn’t hear. There was always the possibility that she only had it on for the light. He noticed that she often kept a little light on in all of the rooms, and would often leave the kitchen light blaring on. She rarely even went out past dark. There was no doubt that she was scared of the dark. That meant that cutting the lights in her apartment would either work wonders to help him or make things worse, it may put her more on guard. No matter how he looked at it, she was going to be a difficult one to get close to. Or so he thought.

“Excuse me.” He could still clearly hear her soft voice calling out to him for the first time. Though he didn’t think she was actually talking to him when it happened. In all honesty, it had startled him when she had. Why? Why was she talking to him? She wasn’t supposed to know he was there. She wasn’t even supposed to be out of her apartment. Normally at this time, she’d be inside, getting ready to make dinner, not outside all dressed up. What was she doing? What had he missed?  
He looked down at her, she looked so shy, so unsure, so adorable. But again, why was she standing there in front of him?

“I’ve noticed you hanging around here a lot lately.” She said, looking away from him. His body went cold. She noticed him? But he’d been so careful…

“I-I was wondering if you knew where this place was?” she pulled out a piece of paper with a crudely written name on it. It was the name of a fairly decent restaurant not too far from there. Why was she going there? He had really missed something big.

“I’m new around here and I have no idea where this place is and I’m running a little late. I figured if you lived around here too you might know?”

He stared down at the paper in silence, still trying to calm his mind down from her approaching him. When he finally managed to, he put on his best smile and nodded his head,  
“Yeah, I know the place. It’s not too far from here.”

She seemed to perk up a little hearing that, “Where exactly is it?”

A sudden thought popped into his head. Something different, something new he could try. She could be his little experiment of sorts. What if he got close to her a different way, gained her trust, worked his way into her little world and then did what he planned to all along. It would be something different for him to try, something that could possibly be more thrilling. He had yet to know what it felt like to suck the life out of someone who knew and trusted him. Now that he was thinking about it, he really wanted to feel it. he wanted to see what look she’d have when she realized just what kind of a man she so stupidly trusted. 

“I was actually going to head that way, if you’d like I could just show you.” He offered, curious if she’d take it. She was so guarded against everything it seemed, he didn’t think she’d say yes. 

“I don’t want to be a bother.” She shook her head. He figured she’d say that. But he wouldn’t’ give up. He needed an in and this was it.

“It’s not a bother, like I said, I’m heading that way anyway.” 

She looked so hesitant, he could practically tell what was going through her head. 

“Come on, it’s fine, I promise.” He started off in the direction of the place, glancing back at her. She hadn’t moved and was just looking at him. “You coming?” he asked. She hesitated a little longer before she very obviously reluctantly followed after him. She quietly thanked him.

“What’s your name?” she asked much to his surprise. He had expected her to be as quiet as a mouse the entire time. 

He thought a moment, should he give her his fake name or his real name? If he wanted her to trust him, maybe his actual name would be a good start. It wasn’t like she’d know anything he’s done just by knowing it.

“It’s Danny.” He smiled as she told him hers as if he didn’t already know it. Of course, she didn’t know that.

“What’s got you going to such a nice place right now?” he wanted to come right out and ask if she had a date, but figured that, even if he said it teasingly, it’d come off weird. He had to play his cards right, he had to remember how skittish she was.

“I’m meeting someone.” She said with a faint smile. Who was this someone she was meeting with and why hadn’t he known about it?

“Oh? Must be someone pretty special then.” He tried to teasingly say, hoping that she wouldn’t take it the wrong way.

Thankfully she laughed softly, “No one that special. I’m actually meeting someone there for a job. Well, hopefully for a job. It’s an interview.”

“Really? What kind of job is offering interviews in places like that?”

Again, she laughed, “The kind that are offering jobs at places like that.” She looked up at him, “I’m interviewing for a job there.”

“Got it.” he didn’t even know she was looking for a new job. She currently worked at a small diner down the road from her apartment. Sure it wasn’t the best of jobs, but she seemed to enjoy it all the same. But at the place she was going to interview at she’d probably make a lot more money.  
“I hope you do well today then.”

She smiled up at him, “Where exactly do you live? Do you live in the same apartment as me? You seem to hang around the neighborhood a lot.” She suddenly asked. He was hoping she wouldn’t bring that up again, but she hadn’t forgotten. How often had she noticed him? Had she noticed him looking into her apartment, had she seen him following her? It wouldn’t be the first time he’d been seen by his victims. But that was only when he wanted them to know he was there. How could he have been so careless? Not only that, but what should he even tell her? He couldn’t tell her he lived around there, what if she tried to see him then, tried to find where he lived? It was a high possibility when he was trying to gain her trust and befriend her.

“I actually don’t live around there.” He said, she looked up at him clearly confused.

“Then why are you hanging around outside so much? It’s a little weird.” 

Great, now she was suspicious. What could he do to change this?

“It’s for work.” He finally said.

“Work? What kind of work? Are you some kind of detective or something?” 

Detective? Did he look like one? Maybe she thought he was some kind of an undercover detective then. 

“No, nothing like that. I’m actually a reporter. I’ve been staking a place out trying to see if I can find something.”

“Staking what out? Nothing ever seems to go on around there.” She still wasn’t falling for it.

“I can’t actually say what. Bound by things, you know? My boss would be pretty upset if I started blabbing about potential leads to things.” He tried to smooth it over and make the story make sense. And it seemed to work. 

“So you’re a reporter then?” she asked.

“Yeah, for the paper. I’m a freelancer, so I have to find my own stories and investigate and report them myself. That’s why I’ve been hanging around, trying to find a lead on something so I can actually write something.”

“That sounds like it’d be pretty tough. I don’t think I could stand around investigating nothing like you for hours on end.”

Hours on end? Had she really been aware of him to that extent?

“It’s not for everyone, that’s for sure. But I enjoy it.” he paused a moment, “Are you working anywhere right now or just looking for a job?” he decided to ask, he had to at least pretend he didn’t know all of this, he had to show an interest in what she did to gain her trust.

“I’m working, it’s nothing cool like a reporter gig like yours though. I’m just a stupid waitress.”

“Nothing wrong with being a waitress. I could never do that, seems way too stressful. I commend you for being able to do it.”

“It’s tough, but it’s money.” She shrugged. If she didn’t like being a waitress, why did she do it? From what he’d seen, she was smart, she probably could have gotten some desk job somewhere that paid even better. But he didn’t question it, she must have had her reasons. 

They made idle chat for the rest of the walk to that restaurant. He wanted to keep her talking as much as possible, that way she’d start feeling more comfortable around him quicker. It really seemed to be working too, since by the time they got there, she had really relaxed. Yeah, he’s got her now, he knew he did.

“What’re you doing tonight?” he asked before they parted. 

“Tonight? Well, I uhm…” she was hesitant again, but something in him told him she wouldn’t lie. “I have to actually go into work after this.”

Yeah, he knew that, but he was wondering more about after. Then again, he knew what she’d be doing after work too. It’ll be the same as every day, it never changed. “What about after work then?” he tried asking.

“After? I’m not really sure. Why?” she gave an awkwardly shy and uncertain smile. 

“I was wondering if you’d like to do something tonight.”

Her eyes widened, it took so much not to laugh right at her.

“I-I don’t know. I mean, why would you want to do anything with me? You don’t even know me.”

“Isn’t that kind of the point of doing something with someone? So you can get to know them?” he smiled, “I’d like to get to know you a little more, if that’s alright.”

“Why?” she truly looked confused about it. Was she really so unused to people actually wanting to get to know her?

“I enjoyed out little walk here, you’ve intrigued me, so I’d like to talk again. Can we?”

“I don’t know…” why was she being so stubborn about it?

“What’ll it hurt? We can just sit there and walk and go our separate ways. If you don’t like it you don’t have to see me ever again.” Or so she’d believe. It wasn’t like he’d leave her alone. But he’d be much more careful in the future so she wouldn’t actually see him.

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt anything to do that.” She slowly said.

“Great! I can pick you up after work then. Where would you like to go?” yeah, he knew he had her.

“How about we just stay at the diner I work at? It’s a decent place.”

The diner she works at? How drawl. She was being overly cautious, picking a safe place for them to meet, a place she was familiar with, a place the people knew her and would watch over her. If it made her more comfortable, if it made it so he could get closer to her, then he’d do it. “Sure, tell me when and where.”

She raddled off where it was and a time and headed inside for her interview. He had a few hours to perfect what to say and do. This was his chance and he wasn’t going to screw it up.

He got there right on time and they settled into a booth in the corner so they could have at least a little bit of privacy from the rest of the customers that hung around. He had prepared so much for this and made it all as flawless as he could. And it paid off, after their little get together, she quickly grew more comfortable with him. They exchanged numbers after he saw her a couple more times. His visits and the amount of times they’d get together just increased as time went on. What had started out as seeing each other once every few weeks quickly turned into a couple times every few weeks, to a few times a week, then it went to everyday. In a way, nearly all of their free time was spent together. If neither of them were working and he wasn’t doing his other…special work, they were together. Always spending their time together at her apartment. He had finally made it in. Now it was only a matter of time until he decided when to finish his little experiment. 

However, before he knew it, a year had come and gone. He really was taking his time with her, but the anticipation of what was to come would be worth it. At one point, he had tried convincing her to date him, he needed to take it to the next level of trust, but she turned him down flat. Saying she wasn’t ready for a relationship of any kind, that she was afraid of the commitment that came with it. Meaning she didn’t trust him enough yet. But that was alright. He was a very patient man. He could wait for her to be ready. The prize at the end of it all would be well worth the wait. 

And while he waited he relieved his dark urges with other victims he had been watching. Victims that weren’t nearly worthy of his little experiment. If he was being honest with himself, he didn’t think anyone else would ever be worthy of such an experiment. She was simply too perfect for it.  
But he had been wanting to take things further for the longest time, but never managed to get her to say yes. He had to get her to, otherwise his plans wouldn’t work.  
One chilly fall night though, he finally got somewhere and it all started with a silly little thing. There had been a spider in her apartment. While she wasn’t one of those obnoxious women who were terrified of them, she didn’t like the things either. She’d tolerate them, but was still uncomfortable. Still, he had gone to kill it, but she stopped him. He had looked at her curiously, why didn’t she want him to take care of it? 

He watched as she went into the kitchen and grabbed a small bowl with a lid. She went up to the spider, carefully and jerkily pushed it into the bowl and closed it up, she grimaced when she looked at it.

“What’re you doing?” he asked.

“Setting it free.” Was all she said while she headed for her door. Where was she setting it free? She wasn’t really going to take it all the way outside, was she? It was not only dark out but well past one in the morning, it wasn’t really a good idea for her to be going outside like that. Still, he followed her out there, just to see what she was doing. And sure enough, she went right outside in front of the building, to a bush that was beside the stairs. Now that he thought about it, he had seen her randomly wander outside at various times like this and go to that very same bush. Had she been doing this every time? As odd as it was to him, the idea that she worried so much about a stupid bug that she’d take her time to have a dedicated bowl for them just to carry them outside made a smile come to his face. Even to him it was rather adorable. 

That was the moment he realized that he had actually fallen in love with her. He didn’t think it’d be possible for it to happen, he thought that his urge to fulfill his experiment would override any sort of feelings he held for her. But at the same time, it made him even more curious, how would it feel to do that to someone he loved? Would he be able to or would it give him a different sort of thrill? What would happen to her if he got her to fall in love with him? How would her face look to see the man she fell in love with turned on her? Now he had to know, he had to know how it’d feel. If it was anything like what he was thinking, it would be the most thrilling thing he’d ever felt. 

Once the spider was free from the bowl, he took her free hand in his. She turned her attention to him. God, he loved it when she looked at him, he loved having all of her attention like that. With his other hand, he gently caressed her cheek as he stared in her eyes. When did she become this beautiful? Why was he just now noticing it? He started to wonder what it’d feel like to see that beautiful face of hers contorted in fear, the way it’d look if she was in agony, what it’d feel like to wrap his hands around that neck of hers…He had to push those thoughts out of his mind, she was staring at him in growing confusion, he couldn’t let her wait while those thoughts raced through his mind. If he got too excited, he’d be pretty screwed, he didn’t have anyone at the moment that he could fulfill his desires with. And he sure as hell wasn’t going to do it with her, not yet at least.

“I know I’ve asked you before and you turned me down, but I need to try again…Will you go out with me? You’d make me the happiest man in the world if you said yes.” Not the most convincing way of asking it, but he hoped it’d work.

“Why? Why do you want to be with me of all people so badly?” why didn’t she get it? It really did aggravate him how little she thought of herself. She didn’t see herself in a good light at all. 

“Why wouldn’t I want to be with you? You’re amazing. Everything about you is amazing and I want to become even closer to you and that’s the only way I know how to make that happen.”

“What we have going on isn’t enough?”

She couldn’t be serious right now. Of course it wasn’t enough, how could she think it was?

“I mean, I like what we got, but I’d like more. You really don’t want more?” he looked worried. He actually was. If she said no it would ruin all of his plans. How would he get what he wanted from her then? He’d feel incomplete if he couldn’t reach his goals with her, all of this time would be a waste. 

“I’ll be a disappointment…” she looked away, “I’m not the kind of person who’d be good in a relationship.”

“I think it’ll be great to be with you. I mean, we practically already are, wouldn’t you say?” it wasn’t a lie, they spent practically all their free time together, they went out to eat together all the time, hell, they even went shopping together more often than they did alone, he even spent the night at her place half of the week anymore. The only thing missing was the “official” title of them dating and intimacy. There was a wall built up between them that he knew wouldn’t fall unless they were together. That was just the kind of girl she was. But it had to happen, he had to have that closeness with her or it’ll all be for nothing, he won’t get that level of pleasure out of her that he believed he’d get if he was that close to her. 

“I don’t know. I don’t think you’ll be as happy as you’re thinking you will be.”

“Are you saying you don’t feel the same then?” he sounded hurt, sad, but on the inside he felt himself growing anxious, if she says no, everything will be ruined. He let go of her hand.

She quickly grabbed both of his hands, holding them tightly and shook her head, “I’m not saying that. I’m just…not sure if I’d be a good person in a relationship. I don’t know what to do.”

He smiled, he shouldn’t have doubted himself, he knew she was in love with him too, he had known that for a long time, “No one ever knows what to do in a relationship. It’s something we can figure out together.”

“I’ll probably be really difficult.” She was trying to talk her way out of it but he wouldn’t let her.

He laughed softly, “You’re difficult already so I expect it. I look forward to it. You wouldn’t be you if you weren’t.”

A smile crept to her face, that got her. One thing he learned while getting closer to her was that she rarely, if ever got attention from anyone, let alone had a guy try to sweet talk her. So when he did it, he knew he’d get a good reaction from her, “So come on, be mine.”

She was hesitant still, she didn’t immediately say anything but eventually nodded her head. “Okay. Okay, let’s do it.” he felt so damn happy, nothing was ruined. And that joy showed on his face.

“You just made me the happiest guy ever.” He leaned over and gave her the softest kiss he could. When he pulled away, her eyes were wide in shock, she definitely wasn’t used to that. He sometimes wondered if she had any experience with men, just from her reactions. Not that he’d care if she did or not. He’d train her slowly, mold her to how he wanted her either way. This was going to be so perfect.

It took a little longer than he liked to get closer with her, more intimate, she was far too shy about doing anything , it was ridiculous. Still, he kept the end goal in mind and stayed patient. He got his reward when they finally did get intimate the first time. She didn’t have much experience at all, if any, just like he had predicted. It was all too perfect. It meant that once she gave it up, she was saying she finally fully trusted him. Just what he had wanted. He was planning it all out in his head, what he’d do to her, how he’d do it, when he’d do it…just a little longer, he kept telling himself. Just a little longer and it’d be done. 

However, just like the several other times before, something happened to slow his plan down. It started when they were in her living room, he was sitting on the couch, she was going around dusting a few things. A news report about the mysterious murderer came on, yet another victim had been found. This time it was an old woman who lived alone. Police weren’t able to figure out why this murderer had gone after her. She lived alone, didn’t bother people and kept mostly to herself and seemed to only venture out to go to the grocery store. Little did they know, that was exactly why he did it. She had been the easiest target for him at the moment and he had to fulfill that urge that surfaced. Hearing the report filled him with a strange sense of pride. He was too good, no one even suspected it was him yet.

“I can’t believe they haven’t caught that creep yet.” She had said, stopping what she was doing to watch, “I don’t get how he’s been able to get away with it for so long.”  
He was able to get away with it so well because he was that good, didn’t she realize that? Still, he had to play along, “Yeah, you’d think the police would have found something by now. Poor woman.” He tried not to smirk as he started to vividly remember just what he had done to her.

“I hope I never run across him…makes me nervous having to walk everywhere.” She commented.

“I can always give you rides places, I told you I didn’t mind doing that.”

“I’m not going to bother you with that.” 

How would she react if he told her that he was the one killing all of those people? She probably wouldn’t believe him, but then he could always show her, “What would you do if you did run into him?”

She shrugged, “I don’t know. Hopefully have enough sense to protect myself better than them.”

There was no way any of them could have protected themselves, he made sure of that. “That mace you keep on you wouldn’t do much against him.” He teased, “He supposedly wears a mask.”

One good thing about being the reporter he was, he was able to pick investigating those random murders and report on them, meaning he was writing about himself. Sure others were working on it, but he was always the main guy thrown in there. But it also meant he’d know a little more about certain details that the public may or may not know about, so him having a little extra insight into this “deranged maniac” didn’t come off as strange. 

“True, but he doesn’t seem to really go after anyone on the streets.” She said.

“And if he follows you home?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I mean, I’d really like to think he wouldn’t be able to sneak in here without me knowing. I usually wake up when I hear the door.”

That’s where she was wrong. Over the course of the years, he had perfected sneaking inside this place without waking her up. He had snuck in there so many times without her knowing, went into her room and watched her sleep, just to see how much he could get away with while she slept. 

“And I’ve got weapons lying around everywhere. I should be able to at least put up a fight.” she went on.

She had a point there, if he made one wrong move and she woke up and didn’t know it was him, she would very easily be able to fight back. Still, he was confident he could pull it off without it getting to the point she’d even have time to react. 

“What if he was already in here?” he asked her, smiling up at her. 

She quickly turned her head and stared at him, “What’re you getting at?”

“What if I was him?” he said in an exaggerated way so she’d think he was joking. She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

“Yeah right, as if you’d ever be capable of something like that.”

Keep thinking that, he thought. A part of him wanted to come right out and show her just how wrong she was, but at the same time, it was amusing how well he hid it from everyone. Still, a little scare wouldn’t hurt…even if it was a playful one.

He quietly stood up once she faced away from him again and slowly snuck up behind her, making sure she wouldn’t notice him, then quickly wrapped his arms around her waist and hoisted her off her feet. She let out a frightened scream that quickly grew into playful laughter as he laid her down on the couch and climbed on top of her. She smiled up at him, looking absolutely beautiful. 

“What’re you doing?” she was still sweetly smiling and shifted under him to get a little more comfortable.

“What do you think?” he smirked at her and brought their lips together. That’s all it took for her to lazily wrap her arms around his neck and deepen the kiss. Just like that, she was already ready, and he wasted no time in getting to work.

While he was thrusting into her, the dark urge began rising. How would she look going from the pure pleasure she was feeling to being terrified. It wouldn’t be difficult to scare her, she was such a jumpy, on edge person, it would take the simplest thing, and he knew just the thing.

He took his hand and put it over her throat, squeezing it tightly. Expecting her to immediately stop him, he was ready to make an excuse as to why he was trying it. That he was simply trying something new, not trying to get a thrill from seeing her face in a state of fear from being strangled. But the way her body started writhing beneath him, the way she tightened around him, the choking moans coming from her…she was actually enjoying it. Taken aback by it, he started to remove his hand only to be met with a disappointed whine. She grabbed his hand and put it back, clearly wanting more. Of course he obliged and squeezed her throat again, but she still wanted more. Her hand stayed on his, squeezing down on it, telling him she wanted it harder. He couldn’t believe it, this was not at all what he had expected from her. What kind of kinky little bitch had he managed to find?

Being fueled by it, he squeezed down as hard as he could, roughly pounding into her, she didn’t try to stop him, didn’t even seem afraid. She latched onto his arms, fingers digging into them. She was close, so, so close. It was driving him mad. He had never felt like he would lose all control doing this before, he didn’t know what he’d do if it lasted much longer. He was worried he’d take it too far and actually kill her if they didn’t finish quickly, there was no way he’d be able to stop until then.

Thankfully she went over the edge shortly after. It had been the most intense orgasm he had ever seen and felt her experience. There was no way he could hold back any longer himself. With his own release, those dark urges quickly vanished, though he knew they wouldn’t be gone for long. Breathing heavily, he finally let go of her neck, he had been pressing it so hard she had scarcely made a sound. She gasped for breath, coughing a bit, but wrapped her arms around his neck and brought him down, kissing him hungrily. She was still feeling something from all of that. It was amazing. What else would he be able to get away with? What else could he do to her? What would it take to actually make her look afraid while doing it? He had planned on finishing her off, completing his goal, very soon, but after discovering this, he might just have to keep her around a little longer.  
Before he knew it six more months had passed by. He was having too much fun with her, it was clearly clouding his mind. She was like the best of everything. She fulfilled so much in his life, between the mundane, everyday things, right down to helping with his darker urges. No, he didn’t stop going after others and killing them, but he was able to resist it for that much longer. It was hard not to stick with her for so long. She was willing to do everything he asked her to, she was a freak and he loved it, but it wasn’t enough to make him stop planning. He was still going to go through with it. It was just taking a little longer than it normally did. There were other reasons to keep her around that he knew he wouldn’t find in another person again. He wanted to have his fun, wanted to make everything perfect before he wrapped everything up.

Of course, that couldn’t last forever. It only took one misstep, one little mistake, for it all to be ruined. There was one tiny thing he had done to screw it all up. One morning, after having spent the night with her, he was getting ready to leave for work, he was running late and got a little careless. Before he had gone to see her the night before, he had visited his newest victim, he always took pictures of what he did to them without fail. He brought the camera with him and in his rush to leave the apartment, he left it sitting there on the table. What a stupid mistake that was. She was always asking to look at it, always asking to see his work. Now, there was no guarantee that she saw anything at all, he had realized he left it just as he left the building and had hurried back up to get it. When he walked back in, she was still sitting on her couch, still reading that book she had held in her hands when he left. But what if? What if she had looked, what if she had seen something? She smiled at him sweetly, it didn’t seem like she knew anything. But the what ifs were still lurking in the back of his mind. He gave her a quick kiss goodbye after grabbing up his camera and left again. The thought of her seeing what he had hidden on his camera never left the back of his mind. He’d have to end his little game much sooner than he hoped. 

When he finished up with work he headed right over there. Tonight. He had to do it tonight, there was no getting around it. It would be simple to, she was already used to him getting rough with her now, he’d play it up like it was just another wild night and do it. Yeah, it would work out, there would be nothing for him to worry about.

He reached her apartment and tried opening the door. She typically kept it unlocked when she knew he’d be coming back after work. It was strange she had it locked. Had she run to the store quick?

“I didn’t think I’d see you around here again.” An old man’s voice startled him, he quickly looked over at the heavy set, hunched over man. One of her neighbors, he had spoken to him a few times. He was a nosy old bastard, but he made him curious.

He smiled, trying to be vague, “Quite the surprise then, isn’t it?”

“The way the little lady got out of here earlier, I could have sworn she as getting booted out or something.”

The way she left? So she left in a hurry. Shit, this wasn’t good. “Oh, no, nothing like that. We got a house together, she didn’t have much time to get the rest of her things out before work. I came here to grab them up.”

“Ah, well I’ll be sad to see her go. Though I won’t miss the nightly noises I’d hear.” He grumbled, “Gonna kill her one of these days acting like that.” He turned and waddled back down the hall. 

He was cursing himself. He had to get in there and see for himself, maybe the old guy was just mistaken. Looking around to make sure no one was around, he picked the lock and let himself in. From the looks of it, she really had left in a hurry. A lot of things were still left there, but the important things, clothes, pictures she had up and every little thing she was fond of, were gone. There were no notes, no indication as to where she could have even gone. And it wasn’t like he could go around asking, people would get way too suspicious.

…What if she went to the police? He hadn’t thought of that. She could have already been to them, told them everything she saw. He’d be screwed if she did. He had to get out of there, he had to leave, it was getting a little too dangerous to stay in that city any longer. The what if’s were too great. He turned to leave the abandoned apartment, when, on the ground, he spotted something glistening against the carpet. He bent over and picked it up. It was her favorite necklace. She must have dropped it in her rush to get out. At least he’d have a little memento from her, as if he’d ever forget her. Clutching the necklace tightly in his hand, he took one last glance around the apartment before leaving. He was really going to miss her…

~~~~

A few years passed by, she had run away from Danny, ran away from the states and returned back home. One thing she was glad she never did was tell that man where she was actually from. She regretted never turning him in to the police, that should have been the first thing she did. She had seen everything he had done on that camera of his. The last day she had seen him, before she rushed out of there, he had left his camera behind on the table in her old apartment. Having always been curious about the types of pictures he’d take for work, she took the chance to look through it. She knew he’d be back in no time to get it, so she quickly did it, thinking it’d be a harmless little thing to do.  
She wished she had never looked. As soon as she powered it on and went to the pictures, she was greeted with a bloody corpse. At first she thought it was fake, maybe he had someone stage it for him for the papers, maybe it was something they did there. Though she knew that wasn’t the case, she was trying to make up excuses in her head. She flipped through the pictures, there was one that really caught her attention, it was of the dead woman, blood pouring from her mouth, still somehow alive, she was on her stomach, head being held up by that murderer that was running rampant. The one they called “ghost face”. That’s when it really hit her. He was that murderer. How else would he have those pictures? It was clear the killer was taking the picture himself. She flipped through more of them. Before that there were pictures of that woman in her home, on the streets, in the stores. And even more before that one of completely different people. Some of them she recognized from the news even. She was in complete disbelief. She had been with a killer this whole time. Had she been one of his potential victims at first? Then she remembered how they met, she had seen him hanging around her apartment outside, so much so that she thought he lived nearby. That crazy bastard had been stalking her, he had full intentions of making her one of his victims. Then why, why did he keep her alive so long? She didn’t understand that. And she didn’t try to. She put the camera right back down as it had been and hurried over to the couch and picked the book up that she had been reading. Just in time too, she heard the door click open and here he came in. Terror filled her, something she had never felt around him, but now that she knew, she was absolutely terrified. While he wouldn’t do anything to her now, since he didn’t know she looked, she worried that he would. 

“Hey there.” She had smiled, “Did you forget something?”

“Yeah, forgot the camera. Can’t do much without it.” he had smiled right back before hurrying over to her and kissing her quickly and leaving. She remembered the relief she felt when he left. She waited a good fifteen minutes to make sure he was actually gone before hopping up and quickly packing a couple bags, taking only the most important things, not even caring that she was leaving a huge mess behind. She’d pay extra to her landlord to make up for it, she just had to get out of there. And with that, she had left, hopping on a train and making her way back to her home, back to where she grew up. 

Though her time at her childhood home didn’t last long, she soon found work in a small, middle of nowhere city called Ormond, bought a little house and set up her new life there. It wasn’t the most thrilling of places to be, but it seemed safe, calm and quiet, just what she had wanted. And it was for sure a place that psycho would never find her. Though she didn’t really think he’d bother to hunt for her after all this time, it was still something she worried about every day.

One thing that had been a rather nice surprise was running into Frank, someone she had known from when she had first left home. Though back then he had just been a child. He had, at the time, been with a foster family that had lived in the apartment right next to hers. It was nice to see him again, all grown up now. She’d be lying if she said she was proud of how he turned out, but at the same time, she wasn’t really surprised. He was a delinquent through and through. Some days it seemed he set himself a personal goal for all the bad and messed up things he could do. But others, he could be the nicest of guys. Rough around the edges, sure, but he still wasn’t bad and was rather charming in his own right. Then again, she fully believed he was a master manipulator. He knew how to act to get what he wanted when he wanted it. Still, it made her think and wonder why he acted so nice to her when she didn’t give him anything he wanted, not that he actually ever asked for anything. Sure, he’d be short with her at times, he’d try to argue with her about little things and sometimes take his aggression out on her that way, but that wasn’t out of the ordinary for, well, anyone to do to her. She didn’t mind people venting to her if it helped them and it always seemed to help him. It still didn’t make sense though, why he was always so overly nice to her. She didn’t have money, so that couldn’t have been the reason he was, she had no power to protect him from the law and she said several times already she’d never help him if he got arrested, so it couldn’t be a potential bailout, she wasn’t even a pretty girl that he could have possibly been trying to get a quickie from. She was far too old and ugly for that sort of thing, especially from an attractive guy like Frank. Maybe he felt like he had to be because of their past, because she’d take care of him when he needed her. 

Still, she tried not to dwell on it too much, she knew it’d just drive her crazy. But it was hard not to, especially when she saw him hanging around his hoodlum friends he somehow seemed to rope into his delinquency. She felt sorry for those kids, but they were the ones who got whooshed away by his new guy in town bad boy persona. It was laughable to her. Then again, he had a thing for one of them, this girl named Julie, and she seemed to like him just the same. Though there was little doubt in her mind that Julie was just using him, that she was the manipulator behind most of the bad things they seemed to do. It was pathetic that he actually fell for it, but what did she expect? He was a young man who thought with the wrong head. Then again, she couldn’t blame him for being attracted to her. Julie was the prettiest girl in town. It made her feel like a complete gargoyle in comparison. It wasn’t a surprise why he wasn’t the least bit interested in her, not when he had Julie and those other two friends. They accepted him, so he always stuck close to them.

When he was younger and lived beside her, he seemed to always be hanging outside, he never wanted to be inside with his foster family. She knew he wasn’t being treated well, she’d hear them yelling at him, the bruises and cuts she’d see and treat on him just verified it. She wanted to turn those people in, but she worried about what would happen to him if she did and if he was next door, she’d at least be able to watch over him. Whenever she caught him alone, she’d stop to talk to him and it got to where she started inviting him over for dinner, she’d help with his homework when he had it, there were times she even made him lunch for school. There were many nights that she’d even let him stay with her, because things at his place were so bad. His foster family never cared either, there was a time he stayed with her for over a week and they didn’t even seem to notice. Then, she had to leave, she had gotten too good of an opportunity at a job she had been wanting, she had to move far away for it. Frank would write to her often, but soon enough even that stopped. He was getting older, why would he keep writing to an old woman like her? Their ten year age gap probably sank in with him and he grew to view whatever their relationship was as creepy. That’s what she believed, at least. When she got a better job a few months back and moved to that tiny town, he was the first one to greet her. She still remembered the smile on his face when she got out of the car. She hadn’t recognized him immediately. He had grown up so much, gotten a horrible looking tattoo on his neck and everything. That boy she’d comfort and take care of was now a grown man, and a fine looking one at that. Perhaps it was wrong of her to think that way, but it was hard not to. It wasn’t like she’d ever act on anything, she wouldn’t want to. He had no reason to be with someone like her, whether or not they had known one another years before.  
After that, he made sure to see her every day, though often times at inconvenient times. Either early in the morning when she was sleeping or in the middle of the night, which always freaked her out, only because she worried that Danny had finally found her. Sometimes he would come by for dinner and sit around to talk, others it’d be just to sleep, but his time was often occupied by that girl and those two others. She knew everything they were up to, but it wasn’t her place to say a thing. They hadn’t hurt anyone that she knew of yet, so why bother?

Still, it was bad. The more he spent time with her, the more her heart ached. She was falling in love with him, and hard. She knew it was wrong, she felt…dirty and disgusted with herself for falling for him, someone who innocently trusted in her, as someone who was there for him when he was a child. For her to see him as some hunk of a man she secretly wanted to devour was beyond wrong. She had tried so hard not to fall for anyone again too, not after Danny. That had made her so afraid of getting close to anyone. But Frank, he was someone she had known, someone that had trusted her, so why wouldn’t she put a little trust in him? 

That and how disgusting she was kept playing through her head as she sat beside him on her tiny couch watching a movie. As was normal for them, they were watching a horror movie, her favorite thing to watch beside a good comedy. He seemed to prefer them too, even if they both thought the way the people acted in survival situations was absolutely ridiculous. 

“You think you’d do better if you were in their shoes?” Frank asked.

“I think so. Don’t you think I’d have a little more common sense than any of them?” Maybe that was a silly thing of her to think. She had been so intimate with a murderer for so long without even knowing it. 

“I don’t know. Think you’d slip up pretty bad when you start panicking and get yourself killed.”

“And you’d do better?”

“I wouldn’t let myself get in a situation like that. I’d fight back.”

“You’d fight back and be the dumbass that gets killed first.” She teased. 

He smirked, “Nah, I’d make the killer be afraid of me.”

She laughed softly, “Well aren’t you the smug one.”

“It’s part of my charm.”

He wasn’t wrong there, it really was a stupidly charming thing. By the time the movie ended, it was nearly three in the morning, just in time for her bedtime. She stood up and stretched, Frank watching her as she did.

“Bed time now. Are you staying, going back home or meeting up with your little friends for another night of debauchery?” she looked down at him.

“Planned on staying.”

“I’ll get you a blanket and pillow when I’m done brushing my teeth then.”

“Thanks.” He smiled at her, waiting for her to return. Being as impatient as he was though, he soon came waltzing into the bathroom, startling her. She glared at him through the mirror.

“Don’t walk into a lady’s bathroom without knocking!” she scolded after spitting out the foam from the toothpaste. 

“I don’t see a lady anywhere.” he was being a smartass, she rolled her eyes and went back to brushing her teeth. That was until she heard a zipper. She looked over in enough time to see him pull out his little friend enough to pee. Her cheeks reddened as she whipped around. She couldn’t believe he just did that!

“What the hell are you doing?! Couldn’t you have waited until I was done?!” she yelled.

“I couldn’t hold it anymore. Don’t see what the big deal is, you do it too.” He finished and flushed. 

She wanted to yell that wasn’t the point of it. It was inappropriate, she had just seen a part of him she never should have. Not that she never thought about it, but still, she couldn’t believe it…

She sighed, trying not to sound too worked up over it, “Wash your hands and brush your teeth.” She ordered while she finished up. 

“I don’t have anything to brush them with. Unless I can use yours.” He had this sick little smirk on his face, she didn’t like it. Then again, any time he did that she didn’t, it did too much to her. 

“No, you can’t.” she opened up her cabinet in there and pulled out a brand new toothbrush for him, “Here. I got this for you the other day.”  
He looked surprised as he took it. “Thanks.”

She smiled kindly and walked out of the bathroom, heading into her room. By the time he finished, she was standing there, holding some clothes out to him.  
“Get out of those clothes, they stink. Don’t want it absorbing into my couch.”

This time, he silently took them. Had she really gone out of her way to get these for him? She was always so kind…Kind to a fault. But that was what he loved about her. She was genuinely kind, unlike most others he came across. He went back into the bathroom and quickly changed, leaving his clothes in a discarded wad on the floor and hurried to her room. She was rummaging around in the closet, most likely looking for a pillow and blanket for him. She always went out of the way for him. He plopped down on the bed and laid on his back, watching her dig around.

“Let me sleep in here, you won’t have to dig around anymore.” He said lazily. 

“If you want the bed, you can have it, I don’t mind. I sleep on the couch all the time anyway.”

“I didn’t mean that. We both can sleep on the bed. It’s big enough for the both of us.”

Share the same bed? While that thought had crossed her mind several different inappropriate times, she never actually would do it. Why would he even suggest something like that? He was acting so strange…In all the times he’d stayed over, he never acted so…forward about things. Maybe she was overthinking it. No, she definitely was. None of this meant anything beyond him becoming more comfortable around her…right? She couldn’t let her mind wander.

“Come on.” he patted the bed beside him, “It’s late, I know you’re tired so just come to bed. One night won’t kill you.”

She hesitated. She knew she shouldn’t.

Looking back at the bed, Frank was lying there, watching her, a devious smile on his face. She looked away again. 

“If you don’t get over here right now, I’ll come over there and carry you to the bed.”

“You better not.” She turned and glared at him.

“Then get that ass in this bed already.” He patted the bed again. She knew if she kept saying no or even walked out of there to lay on the couch he’d do just what he said and carry her back to the bed. There was no use fighting him. Plus, she was getting extremely tired. Like he said, one night wouldn’t kill her.

Slowly, she closed the doors to her closet, taking a deep breath before she walked to her bed and sat on it. She could feel his eyes on her back as she finally laid down, not looking at him once.

“I’ll turn off the lights.” Frank said with a little laugh. He could tell she was nervous. Why she was, he could only guess, and of course he was. Even if she thought she was subtle, she really wasn’t. He knew what was on her mind. Once the lights were off, he hopped back on the bed, laying on his side to face her. She was lying there curled up, not even under the covers, despite it being fairly chilly in there.

He yanked on the blanket, making her glance back at him finally, “What’re you doing?” she asked.

“It’s cold and you’re on the blanket.”

She sighed heavily before sitting up and shoving the blanket on him, then quickly laying back down, back still to him. 

“Here.” He tossed part of the blanket over her before finally settling in under them as well, scooting even closer to her than he had been. Her body stiffened at the warmth she felt emanating from his body, a shiver ran through her from the light tickle she felt on her neck from his breath. It had been so long since she felt that, so many years…it was too much. He needed to move away.

“Do you have to lay so close?” she asked, sounding aggravated and annoyed, hoping it would make him move. Of course she really wasn’t, she was feeling something completely different.

“I don’t want to be too far away, might roll off with the blanket then.”

She said nothing, she knew there was no point in saying a thing, not to him. She knew it’d be best to just stay quiet and attempt to sleep. The warmth from his body and his soft breathing made falling asleep quickly so easy. He remained awake for a little while after her, just watching her sleep, but between her warmth and calm breathing, it lulled him into a calm sleep in no time as well.

The next morning her alarm went off, jarring the both of them awake, more so Frank than her. She lazily slapped at it and turned it off before settling back down and quickly dozing off again. Frank on the other hand, stayed awake. How could he fall back asleep when she was fully wrapped around him? Her leg was over his, arms wrapped around his body, face snuggled up to his chest, while his own arms had been wrapped tightly around her. Sure, they could easily say they were simply doing it for warmth, but he knew better, or wanted to believe something else entirely. 

Carefully he had pulled her closer to his body, holding her even tighter. He was feeling like the luckiest man alive right then…Until that damned alarm went off again and woke her up. This time, from being trapped even tighter in his arms, she woke up more. Once her sleep fogged mind cleared and she processed just what was going on, she wiggled out of his embrace and sat up quickly, practically falling off the bed and stood. Frank just sighed and rolled onto his back.

“Can you please turn that damn alarm off already?” he sounded annoyed already. Why wouldn’t he be though? He wanted that moment to last forever. 

“Sorry. Go back to sleep. I’ll wake you up before I leave.” She headed out of her bedroom. Frank just laid there, staring up at the ceiling. He wished that alarm hadn’t gone off, he wished that morning hadn’t come, he wished that she didn’t have to get up and go to work, he wished they could have stayed like that forever. The feelings he felt, he had never felt something like that before. He didn’t want to be away from her. Sure, he had Julie, but he didn’t feel the same for her, it was a different kind of feeling. While he thought about it, before he knew it, slept crept up on him once again.

For the next couple of weeks, nearly everyday was the same. Frank would invite himself over, eat dinner with her and share a bed with her. He was even getting bolder and just wrapping himself around her as soon as they both got into bed. Sure, she fought him at first, but it wasn’t hurting a thing. They did nothing beyond cuddle up against one another, hold each other, and she had to admit, it was nice having someone else there so much. But, she wasn’t getting used to it. There had been a few days where he’d leave right after dinner and she wouldn’t hear from him till the next night, and others where he’d show up sometime late at night and she’d wake up to him in her bed. Of course she knew what he had been doing, he was out with those friends of his causing trouble. She hated that he did things like that, but it wasn’t her place to stop him. When she knew for a fact that he did something bad, she’d let him know how unhappy and disappointed she was. He’d always laugh and shrug it off. In reality, he didn’t care about her opinion. Then again, that’s what she believed, it’s not like he stopped doing it after.

But, things stayed that way until their winter break. His friends had a couple weeks off from school, so he made himself very scarce then. Honestly, things got lonely for her, but she wasn’t going to fully admit that. Still, after the first four days, she wished he had shown up, not only because she was lonely and really missing him, but because something major happened and she really needed to talk to him. She gave him a few more days, but she didn’t see or hear from him. She really needed to talk to him sooner rather than later…Her mother was sick and needed her home. She didn’t have much time left, the doctors claimed. A few months at most. She had to leave, move back home so she could care for her. And that move was happening in about two weeks. Her job was willing to transfer her closer to her mom even, so there were no worries there. Frank was the only concern. She cared about him a lot and knew he relied on her, she couldn’t just up and leave without a word.

So, one night after work, she ventured out, she knew where all of their hangouts were, she was going to search each one and find him. It may have been extremely dumb on her part, but she felt she needed to do this. Waiting to tell him wasn’t something she felt was an option. 

It took her awhile to find the place they decided to hang out that night. Tonight, they had chosen to sit around the abandoned property of an old factory. It was dimly lit, but she could see and hear his three friends just beyond the fence. She went around until she found the spot they got in from and made her way over to them. The closer she got, however, the more disappointed she got. He wasn’t there with them. They all turned toward her and stared. The tallest one, Joey, she believed his name was, loomed over her. He looked so menacing in the shadows of the light.

“What do you want” he asked, glaring down at her. While Frank knew her, his friends didn’t. He probably never even talked about her, so she for sure felt she was in danger. She could feel it. The other two stood behind him, staring at her. Even though she was scared she didn’t show it.

“Is Frank here?” she tried to keep her voice from shaking, she didn’t know if she succeeded. 

“What do you want with him?” the taller girl, Julie, asked, stepping up on her. She was the one Frank was fooling around with. Immediately she felt inferior to her, she was so much better than her in so many ways. 

She stood firm anyway, “I have to talk to him about something.”

“About what? Tell us and we’ll tell him.” Joey stared hard down at her.

She shook her head, “No, this is something I have to tell him.” 

“He’s not here, as you can see,” the smaller one, Susie, she believed it was, spoke up.

“Can you tell me where I can find him.”

“I can tell you where they’ll find you if you don’t leave right now.” Julie said, trying to intimidate her. While it did in a way, it also made her smile for some odd reason. These were just kids, nothing more than that, and yet they were acting like they were something hot and badass. Sure, they could really beat the shit out of her together, but alone, she didn’t think they could do much. She kept her hands in her pockets, she had mace on her keyring, she was ready to use it if they tried anything.

“I’m not looking for trouble, I just have to talk to him.” She repeated. “Please tell me where he is.”

“How do you even know him? He’s never mentioned knowing an ugly ass like you.” Joey kept glaring. Sure his words hurt, but she wasn’t going to let it bother her.

“You really won’t tell me where he is?” 

“No. And you need to stay away from him. I don’t know who you think you are, but he’s mine.” Julie growled through gritted teeth. Even though she knew what he and Julie were, hearing it from her actually hurt her heart. 

“I think you hit a nerve.” Susie chuckled, “I think she actually is interested in him. You love him?” she was almost taunting her. For the supposed shy girl, she didn’t seem too shy. Maybe because it involved her best friend.

Had her face changed so much that even in the darkness they could see it? Of course it hurt hearing he and Julie were a thing. It felt like something was squeezing her heart, her stomach felt sick…It shouldn’t have hurt so bad.

A hard shove shook her from her thoughts. Julie was now right in her face, she looked livid. She tried taking a step back, but she followed. 

“I think you need to be taught a lesson about leaving other people’s things alone.”

She heard a click and glanced down. In Julie’s hand was a knife. She wasn’t actually going to use it, was she? Joey and Susie both stood close behind her. Now she really felt like she was in danger.

That was when Julie punched her right in the jaw. It wasn’t anything major, but it was a surprise. Julie lifted her arm again, ready to bring her fist down once more. She didn’t hesitate though, before Julie connected with her face again, before the other two could move any closer, she pulled the mace out of her pocket and sprayed her with it. Julie jerked back, crying out in pain.

“You bitch!” she yelled. Susie and Joey went right for her, but she held the mace up, ready to spray it again, they stopped. Seeing the pain Julie was in, they didn’t want to experience it either. 

“Don’t. You need to help her rinse her eyes out.” She told them. They both glared at her, but hurriedly helped Julie. As soon as they did, she turned tail and hurried off from there, she knew she wasn’t going to find him. Not that night at least. She hurried on home, feeling rather defeated.

While she knew Frank wasn’t going to be happy with her about what she did, she didn’t think she’d see him the night after it happened. A little over an hour after she got home from work, he came waltzing into her home and came right into the kitchen. She was in there cooking. She was startled when she saw him, but surprised he didn’t look angry.

“Didn’t expect to see you today.” She smiled. He didn’t seem upset about anything, but she could smell alcohol on him. It was so strong. She’d dealt with him drunk a couple of times and while he’d never hurt her before, she’d seen him go after others. It put her on high alert, that was for sure.

He took a step closer, his expression not changing, even after he slapped her hard across her face. She let out a startled cry and before she could even look at him, he had her shoved against the fridge, strangling her. He had slammed her so hard against it that a vase and a few pots and pans she kept up there fell to the ground, the vase shattering on the floor.

Now his eyes looked livid, his whole expression showed her now just how angry he was. She tried to pry his fingers from her throat, hit him, push him away and even kicked him to try to make him let go, but he didn’t. When she kicked him, he actually hit her again and strangled her harder. 

It was hard to breathe, near impossible, blackness started to take over her vision. He was going to kill her, wasn’t he? He was going to…

“F-Frank…” she barely managed to say as she clawed at his arms. 

“Damn…You are so beautiful…” he suddenly said, one hand caressing her cheek gently while the other still squeezed her throat tightly. But what surprised her even more was when he leaned in and roughly pressed his lips to hers. She let out a surprised whine, eyes wide in surprise. She tried pushing against him harder, but it seemed pointless, he didn’t even seem to notice. He moved the hand from her cheek and started touching her body. Slowly, meticulously, at first, but then almost desperate to get a feel of every inch of her, his hand even diving under her shirt. Was he seriously doing this?

“Frank! S-stop!” she tried yelling out. But to him, that was only an invitation for his tongue to slide into her mouth. She was so confused, so frightened. She didn’t want this, not like this.

She fought harder, hitting, pushing and kicking him. Finally he had enough and glared at her, squeezing her throat harder once again.

“Don’t come near my friends again. Understand?” he hissed, acting like he didn’t just try forcing himself on her. He slammed her hard against the fridge one last time and let her go. Without another word, he walked right out of the backdoor and left.

Falling to the floor in a shaky heap, she gasped for air, hand to her sore throat like it would magically ease the pain she felt. What the hell had just happened? Why? She never, ever thought Frank would do anything like that to her. She stupidly thought she was immune to his bouts of anger.

Shakily she stood and went to her back door, she had to lock it up tight. Sure, he had a key to the door lock, but not the deadbolt she had put on it. She never used it though, she always only locked the doors themselves so Frank could get in. Tonight, she was making sure everything was locked up nice and tight. If he got in again…She didn’t even want to think of it.

When she finished, she turned the stove off and went up to her room, leaving the mess there for the morning. All she wanted to do now was crawl into bed and hide away.  
She didn’t see or hear from Frank for days after that incident. It was for the best, she was still rather shaken from the whole incident. Having time away from him helped calm her, ease her mind and get a lot of packing done. She needed more tape for some of the boxes, then she’d be all set to leave.

That was what actually made her see Frank again. Not intentionally, but she still ran across him. She went out to get more packing tape, he and his little band of delinquents were standing outside the store, no doubt plotting to rob the place. She didn’t say a thing to him, to any of them, in fact, she walked right on by them as if she hadn’t even seen them.  
But of course she did. She was way more focused on them, on Frank, than even she realized. He was all snuggled up with that girl, Julie. She really was nothing to him. He stared at her as she walked by, his hands on that girls chin, tilting her head up to look at him. It was like he had been interrupted from a kiss. And of course Julie didn’t seem too pleased about it. She was worried she was going to get jumped again.

When she got in the store, she let out the breath she didn’t even know she was holding. Instead of going straight for the tape, she wandered around the store a bit, hoping the four outside would leave. But she couldn’t stall forever, she was busy and had things to do. She tried peeking out the window but couldn’t tell if they were still there or not. She took another deep breath, paid for the tape and left, praying they were gone.

Well, she got part of her wish. Joey, Julie and Susie were gone, but Frank still stood there, leaning against the building. Why did he have to stay. She tried walking past him, hoping he wouldn’t notice her.

He was watching for her though, and as soon as she passed by him, he followed right behind her. 

“Hey.” Frank called out. She acted like she didn’t hear him and kept walking.

“Hey!” he said louder as he grabbed her arm, practically slamming her into a wall. It was dark, very few people were around, no one would pay attention to what he was doing. Even if they did, they wouldn’t get involved. Not in something that looked like a mugging in progress. 

“What?!” she yelled out, startled. Glaring, she pushed him away. He let go of her, but put his arms on either side of her head, like he was blocking her in and held his face close to hers. Her heart was beating wildly, and it wasn’t only because she was afraid. She had to pull herself together. This was not the time for her mind to wander. 

“Why were you ignoring me?” he asked as if she had no right to.

“I’m not going to talk to you when you’re near those…”friends” of yours. Not after what they tried to do.”

“What they tried to do? You sprayed Julie in the face with mace!”

“Yeah, to protect myself when they came ganging up on me and she tried to stab me!” maybe the stabbing thing was a bit of an exaggeration, but she did pull a knife on her.

“Wait, what?” he looked confused. Had they skipped over that little part?

“I have to go.” She said before she pushed him away again. But he still wasn’t having it, he wasn’t going to let her go so easy.

“Wait!” he grabbed her, shoving her against the building. She winced in pain, he didn’t mean to hurt her, he just wanted to talk.

“Frank, let me go. I’m not doing this now. I’m too busy for this.”

He said nothing and just stared at her. She didn’t look happy, she looked almost scared, hurt even. He never wanted to make her feel like that. He raised his hand and caressed her cheek softly, she flinched under his touch. It hurt him that she felt so afraid of him now, but it was his own fault she did.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered before placing a soft kiss on her lips and letting her go.

“What did you need me for?” he asked

“I wanted to tell you I’m leaving.” She slowly answered, not sure how to react about that little kiss.

“What do you mean leaving?”

“I have to move away. My mom isn’t doing very good, I have to go back to her.”

Frank was silent and just stared down at her, he looked so conflicted, “You can’t go…”

“I have to.”

“But…”

“Come with me.” She said out of nowhere. Why did she? She knew he wouldn’t’ agree to it.

“I couldn’t do that.”

“Why?”

He didn’t say anything, he couldn’t say anything, he knew she knew why, “When will you come back?” he decided to change the subject a little.

She didn’t answer him and just stared up at him, he seemed to get that she wouldn’t be. He looked away from her, she was certain he was going to get angry with her, maybe even attack her again, so she braced herself. Instead, he put his hands on her cheeks again and kissed her roughly, intensely, it took her breath away. What was he doing? When he stopped, he dropped his arms and just stared down at her. She didn’t immediately move, looking more surprised than anything. No, that wasn’t the first time he had kissed her, but it still took her aback. Without another word, she pushed past him and left, glancing back only to see him hunched over, hand covering his face. If she didn’t know any better, she would have said he was crying. It pained her to see him that way, she wanted to go back and comfort him, to tell him everything would be alright. But flashes of what he had done to her ran through her mind, would it be weak going back to him like that? Would it show him that she was okay with how he acted no matter what? It wasn’t okay and she needed him to know it. She had to be firm, strong, so, without looking back again, she headed on her way home.

The days quickly passed by, Frank hadn’t come around once and she didn’t try to see him. Had he finally given up on her? He must have been so tired of her, not that it mattered. Once she left, she felt that would be it between the two of them. There was no way their fates would ever bring them together like this again. It was like a once in a lifetime thing that they both screwed up. She would miss him terribly, but maybe it was for the best they parted ways. He was getting too attached, thinking they could be something more, and she knew she’d fall right for it. She couldn’t allow it. she was too old, he was too young, he had so much more of his life to live, he didn’t need her to weigh him down. She’d only complicate his life if she stayed in it.

As she was putting the last of what she was taking with her in her car, she heard footsteps behind her. When she looked, she was surprised to see Frank standing there, hands in the pockets of his hoodie, looking away uncertainly.

“What do you want?” she asked when he didn’t’ say anything.

“You’re leaving. I wanted to see you before you did.”

“Why would you want to? I thought you were mad at me.”

“No, I’m not. I…I feel bad for what I did to you…I didn’t know how to face you.”

“I’m not going to leave on bad terms with you. It’s fine, so move on and forget it.”

“How can I? I know what I did was wrong, but-”

“But you still did it and can’t take it back. I’m willing to look the other way this time so you should too.”

He said nothing, still not even looking at her. After a long silence, she opened the door to her car to climb in. Hearing that, Frank’s head snapped to her, he rushed over, grabbed her shoulder, spinning her around and kissed her deeply. It was the most passion filled kiss either of them had ever experienced. Maybe it was because she could feel all of Frank’s emotions in it, but she had never gotten a kiss like that before. She practically melted under him, she had to cling to his shirt to even keep from falling.

He pulled away, cupping her cheeks, something she was finding he loved to do, “I don’t want you to go.” He said, eyes pleading with her to stay.

“I have to.” She said softly, “I can’t stay.”

“You can’t come back? Do you really have to move?”

“My mom needs me, I don’t know how long she’ll hang on and I can’t afford to keep a place I’m not living in so far away.” She sighed, “I have nothing here…” maybe she shouldn’t have said that part, but she didn’t, she wouldn’t have a job, her mom would die alone, she had already broken her lease so she had no home…

“You have me.” She could hear the hurt in his voice, she really shouldn’t have said that. “Aren’t I enough to keep you here?”

“Am I not enough for you to leave?”

Frank stared at her, he didn’t have a thing to say. He had his friends…Julie…how could he leave them?

“That’s what I thought…” she looked away, shaking her head, “Maybe we’ll see each other again someday.

Again, Frank said nothing, he didn’t believe that.

“Goodbye, Frank.” She stood on her toes and gave him a light kiss on his cheek before getting in her car and driving off. He stood there, frozen in place as her car disappeared over the horizon. 

Her mom only lasted a little over a month before she passed away. It was rough losing her so quickly, especially when she had seemed to be doing better. Between the funeral and getting everything in order in her home, she hadn’t had much time to do anything. It felt like forever since she could actually sit down and relax without anything on her mind. But she found that when she did, it wasn’t good. Left alone in that big empty house of her mom’s was lonely. She missed Frank. She wanted to see him, to hear his voice, to feel his warmth once again. How could she ever face him again though? She felt awful for how they parted, sure it wasn’t on bad terms, but she had hurt him, she knew she had. Would he even want to see her again after that? By now she was certain he had moved on, he had probably fully committed himself to that girl of his and forgot about her. It had only been a few weeks, but so much could change in a few weeks. She needed to forget about him, just like she was certain he had forgotten about her. Still, seeing him once wouldn’t be bad, would it? Telling him what happened, telling him she was sorry, telling him that she was still there for him, that would be fine, wouldn’t it? She really didn’t want to lose him.  
Having taken some time off from work to deal with her mother’s things, she still had a few days left before she had to go back. This would be the perfect time to drive to Ormond and see if she could come across him. If not, she could easily come back. So, after quickly getting herself around, she hopped in her car without a second thought and made her way there. She just had to see him.

Just before she got into town, she stopped at a gas station for fill up her car and get something to drink. While inside waiting in line to pay, she glanced at the newspaper sitting on the rack near the counter. One of the headlines caught her attention. In big bold letters it read; “Body found in abandoned ski resort, four teen suspects missing”.  
She snatched the paper up and read the article. It couldn’t be Frank and his little group, it had to be a coincidence. She read the article, but it gave nothing about them away. That resort the body was found at though, it was one of the places they liked to hang out at. Still, it had to be a coincidence. She had to hurry there and find him, just to clear things up.

She finally made it there by nightfall and after asking a few people, none of them had seen Frank. They didn’t seem too upset by that, which she could understand. He went around terrorizing the place for so long with his friends. There had to be a clue as to where they went. Maybe if she went up to that resort and had a look around she’d find something. The police had to have missed something.

It was a little too late to be wandering around in the mountains in the cold, especially with a forest surrounding the place. It was a little more than creepy, but she had to find him, she was worried about him now. What if he had gotten caught up with the person who did it, what if he was hurt or needed help? A million things ran through her mind and none of them were good.

The snow was past her ankles as she made her way into the dilapidated building. She had a good look around but didn’t find a single trace of them anywhere, beyond the graffiti on the walls. It was strange. Even if they had done it, wouldn’t there be a trace of them? She had heard one thing about their disappearance that worried her more. There were rumors that footprints were found in the snow leading into the forest. Police had followed them but they abruptly ended. Where could they have gone? They had to have a hideout in that forest somewhere that no one had found yet.

Begrudgingly, she trudged out into the snow again, making her way to the base of the forest. It had snowed several times since they disappeared so there were no footprints to follow, but she hoped that once she ventured inside she’d find some traces of them in there. Before she could take one step in there, she heard a noise not far from where she was. It didn’t sound like an animal or a person, it didn’t sound like anything she’d ever heard before. What could it be? It made her not want to go in there, she wanted to turn tail and leave. But…what if Frank was actually in there and needed her? She had to be strong. Even though she was scared, she took a deep breath and headed into the forest.  
She didn’t know how long she’d been walking or where she was, but her head felt heavy, she felt dizzy, that sound she had heard kept getting louder and louder, but she couldn’t tell where it was. It was all around her, surrounding her. What was going on? She felt too lightheaded, she had to head back. 

Next thing she knew, she was waking up in a dark forest, the snow was gone, a warm, stagnant air surrounded her. Where was she? She sat up and looked around, wasn’t she just at the ski resort in a foot of snow? Why was she in a place like this?

A loud, shrill scream jarred her attention. She jumped up and looked in the direction of it, but didn’t see a thing, she thought she had been alone. Soon after, she heard another even louder scream. What was going on? Soon after she heard someone else yell out, then another, she was starting to feel a panic. It really hit her when she saw someone sprinting at her full force holding a knife above his head. Instinctively she turned and ran as fast as she could, but it didn’t seem to matter. That man was on her in no time, the knife plunged into her back, knocking her to the ground. She heard him snicker under that white mask of his. With his foot, he flipped her onto her back. She let out a frightened yell as he straddled her, the knife was raised high in the air, he was going to stab her. 

She put her hands up protectively, but that’s when she saw it. The tattoo on his neck. There was only one idiot who had an ugly tattoo like that on his neck.

“Frank?!” her voice squeaked out as she tore the white mask from his face. Sure enough, Frank was there above her, smirking.

“Hey there.”

“What’re you doing?” she was panicked, but at the same time, she felt some relief at seeing him, but he never lowered the knife.

“It’s all part of the game, babe. Don’t take it the wrong way.” He plunged the knife right into her chest. She let out a pained scream as he drug the blade down her chest. She clawed at his chest, blood pouring from her mouth as she tried to speak.

“Frank…” she choked out.

She felt his hand caress her cheek slowly before he leaned down close to her ear, “You’ll never be able to leave me again.” He said with a snicker, placing a kiss on her forehead. Darkness overtook her as she felt the pressure from his body leave. 

Slowly she woke back up. Her head was fuzzy, her body heavy. She groaned as she sat up and looked around. She was still in a forested area, but it wasn’t the same place. It wasn’t Ormond either though, she didn’t know where she was. All she knew was that she had to find her way out, find her way back to her car and back home.

“Oh-ho, what is this?” a muffled voice startled her, she looked around but didn’t see anyone. 

“I must have been a good boy to get a reward like this.”

She heard leaves crunch to her left, her head whipped over there. Her eyes widened at what she saw before her. That mask, that cloak…It had been plastered all over the news for months, it was something she’d never forget. But how…how did he find her? How did he know where she was?

He pulled the mask off, a smile was plastered on his face, but it wasn’t a kind one, “Long time no see.” 

She said nothing, too terrified to say a thing. She never thought she’d ever see Danny again, why did he show up now all of a sudden? He squatted down in front of her and started playing with her hair.

“I really missed you, you know.” she felt a shiver run down her spine. He kept playing with her hair a bit longer before he grabbed it roughly and yanked her closer, their noses nearly touching.

“You’re never getting away from me again.” He brought his mouth to hers, giving her a rough, hungry kiss.


End file.
